Travel to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Just after Christmas, I headed over the Pittsburgh, PA to interview Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc-André Fleury. I was overly thrilled to see the Penguins play and meet Fleury, a fellow Canadian.

Amur (or Siberian) Tiger at the Pittsburgh Zoo

What I didn’t expect was to like the city of Pittsburgh as much as I did. It is clean, the people are friendly and there are quite a few things to do fairly close to the downtown core. Here are my favourites:

Pittsburgh Zoo & PPC Aquarium: In every city I go to that has a zoo, I always check to see if they have tigers. They do in Pittsburgh (there’s even a cub there who’s under one year old!). You’ll have to take a 20 minute cab there or rent a car. 1 Wild Place, Pittsburgh, 1 (800) 474-4966.

The Andy Warhol Museum: Probably my favourite attraction, this museum is the “most comprehensive single-artist museum in the world.” It’s absolutely fantastic. Seven floors of memorabilia, biographical info, gigantic art installations and Warhol’s “time capsules,” which are boxes that the artist collected of his own daily life.  This is on the north shore, which is walkable across the Andy Warhol Bridge from downtown. 117 Sandusky Street, (412) 237-8300. 

Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum in Pittsburgh, PA

Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum: This one is located within the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center. I went straight to the hockey section and had fun learning new things about the Pittsburgh Penguins that I didn’t know. The exhibits haven’t been updated in a few years, as there’s no mention of the current team or even Sidney Crosby. I guess you have to be around a bit longer to be put in a museum (although he is in Toronto’s Hockey Hall of Fame…). 1212 Smallman Street, (412) 454-6000.

Golden Palace Buffet: Coming from Vancouver, where Asian restaurants rival those overseas, I found this great Chinese restaurant in downtown Pittsburgh. Large portions, gracious staff and totally delicious food made this place my favourite. Their all-you-can-eat lunch buffet is $6.95 USD! 647 Smithfield Street, Pittsburgh, (412) 338-1888.

The Church Brew Works: This church-turned microbrewery in the pretty neighbourhood of Lawrenceville was a major hit. I dined where the pews used to be, across from the bar area. The microbrewery concocts such beers as “Celestial Gold,” “Pious Monkey Dunkel” and “Bell Tower Brown Ale.” The food is good, too! 3525 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, (412) 688-8200.

Tags: Andy Warhol Museum, Church Brew Works, goaltender, Golden Palace Buffet, Marc-André Fleury, pa, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Penguins, Pittsburgh Zoo & PPC Aquarium, Travel to Pittsburgh, Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum